Former Prosecutor turned
Criminal Defense Lawyer
Jonathan J. Israels is a Vancouver
Criminal Defense Lawyer (and former Crown prosecutor at both Provincial and Supreme Court), who represents individuals being investigated and/or charged with all types of criminal offences.
ANYONE convicted of a drinking and driving offence in British Columbia will now have to pay for the installation of an ignition interlock device and provide breath samples each time they drive.
The new regulations will come into effect on Feb. 1, and will also apply to people who have accumulated two 90-day driving prohibitions or three 24-hour suspensions within a five-year period.
The interlock program comes with high financial costs for drunk drivers. They'll be on the hook for the installation, monthly monitoring, and eventual removal of the devices, all for a $1,560 price tag.
Anyone enrolled in the program and caught driving a vehicle without an interlock will lose his or her driver's licence.
The legislation has a particular poignant significance for North Vancouver-Seymour MLA Daniel Jarvis. His cousin, her husband and three of their children were all killed in a collision with a drunk driver.
That drunk driver was under a driving prohibition for previous impaired charged at the time of the crash.
"I've been trying to push for these kinds of changes for some time," Jarvis said about the new legislation. "I'm quite pleased that it's going through. In fact, I kind of wish that it would be on every car."
The new program only applies to offences, prohibitions, and suspensions received after Feb. 1.
The North Shore's police forces are in full support of the regulations.
"We're hoping that it helps to reduce drinking, and we're hoping that it makes the road safer," said North Vancouver RCMP spokeswoman Const. Marlene Morton.
So far this month, police officers in North Vancouver have handed out 40 one-day roadside suspensions and 15 criminal charges for impaired driving.
According to the Ministry of Public Safety, interlock devices reduce repeat drunk-driving offences by 45 to 90 per cent. About 4,000 people in B.C. have drinking and driving offences in their driving records.
The province currently has a limited ignition interlock program, which has more than 300 active participants.
© North Shore News 2008